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Monday, August 6, 2012

@$%#& Shelves

This is a post about how I almost lost my mind getting ready for a party we had this past weekend. Last week I got a bug up my butt to get a bunch of things hung on the walls. I don't know why, I was just tired of pictures, shelves, and mirrors sitting on the ground and hidden in closets, etc...so I had my eye on this corner of our bedroom:

I've had those Pottery Barn ledges/shelves sitting there like that for months, or years, I guess. I bought them for $60 (half off retail) from a lady on Craigslist in 2008. Then I seriously couldn't figure out where to put them in the house, even though this little alcove seemed like the perfect spot. So, I got all fired up and started by removing the most overused print in blogland.

Can you see the outline of filth when I took it down? Gross! I measured and re-measured for the placement of the cleats. When I was done, there was about ten marks on the walls. And I think I was pulling insulation out with every hole...but at least there is some!

So, when I finally got them both up and level, I was pretty pleased with myself.

Then I hung the shelf up and it was sort of hanging it's head in shame, if you see what I mean...

I tightened the cleats up more and then the shelf wouldn't go on. I messed with it for 30 minutes and it just wouldn't grab onto the hardware, so I took it down to see what the deal was. Then I saw it - the shelf extended past the hardware so there was no way it would go on, it was hitting the wall every time.

I was pretty irritated, so I mocked up these photos to tell you how I felt about this setback.

When Shaun got home from work I whined to him about how much Pottery Barn sucks at life, can you please look at these, is my brain made stupid by breastfeeding, or are these shelves messed up?? He agreed that they were not going on the wall because of that little strip of shelf hitting the wall. So I made a joke about shimming out the cleats with cardboard, and I'm embarrassed to say that is what we did.

They are ok, not perfect. They still lean down just a little bit because uh, the hardware is attached to cardboard before it hits the anchor/wall...but I don't care, I'm not putting much on them.

They look great. And I really can't tell that they aren't completely tight on the wall. But I totally relate because I had the same problem with the shelves in the bathroom at our last house. So annoying.

I bought pottery barn ledges from CL too back in the day and had a heck of a time hanging them. It wasn't a cleat system, but the screws just did not line up properly with the holes to put them in. So frustrating! Glad you found a way to make them work.

Thank you, thank you for sharing this! We have the same problem with those shelves from PB. My husband put several nicks in the wall hanging them and we both used up our repertoire of curse words before getting them hung-only to notice they leaned forward.

Pretty much anytime I hang anything up I get annoyed, haha. I feel stupid when I can't get things to hang straight or I don't know how to get the anchors in the wall correctly. In the end I say the same thing as you did - I hope they don't fall off! lol

HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm totally in the same boat. I have all of these gorgeous, hand painted paintings just sitting on my floor (since 2008!). I'm too chicken to try and hang them myself (very large & very heavy). My idea of hanging something includes a push-pin.

About Me

My name is Sara. I am a home owner/renovator, photographer, and stay at home mom in SE Minnesota trying to cram all kinds of projects into the time my son is at daycare or school. Ashford is 2, so things are pretty busy around here! I like slightly inappropriate humor, wine, and stalking house blogs. I love starting new DIY projects and sometimes hate finishing them. I love taking portraits of families, children and couples whenever I can. This blog is all about the projects my husband and I tackle, the projects that fizzle, and the funny things that happen to us along the way.